COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Kelsey Minato probably knows now what it's like to be Russell Wilson.

Minato, a 5-foot-8 point guard, usually has little trouble playing the role of quarterback for the Army offense, deciding where to distribute the ball or taking the shot for herself. In the opening 11 minutes in Sunday's NCAA tourney game against Maryland, Minato had an assist and sank three shots, the last a 3-pointer from the top of the key, staking Army to an 18-15 lead.

During Maryland's timeout, coach Brenda Frese made a critical defensive change, sending the Terps' forwards out to the top of the defense. All of a sudden, the 5-8 Minato was facing off with the likes of 6-3 center Brionna Jones, 6-4 center Malina Howard and 6-0 guard Laurin Mincy. Minato's playmaking was thrown off, as was Army's entire offense.

It was the perfect example of the difference between players in the Patriot League and those in power conferences such as the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"In the Patriot League we don't really see girls that big,'' said Aimee Oertner. "There are a few but not ones who can actually move with guards and play guards that well.''

Minato, the two-time Patriot League player of the year, managed to score a game-high 27 points, but 18 of those came in the second half as the teams traded baskets with Army down by more than 20 points. Maryland went on to post a 90-52 victory.

"It was a little bit exhausting,'' Minato said, "just because no matter who switched on me they were all big and athletic. It was hard to get anything. I still tried to attack and still tried to be aggressive.''

Army coach Dave Magarity said the move caught his team a bit by surprise.

"They obviously were prepared for that and something they had put in their game plan defensively,'' Magarity said. "That switching caused a lot of indecision on our part.''

Frese gave a lot of credit to her post players for executing their assignment.

"That's not something you routinely see, them having to guard the guard play out there,'' Frese said. "Army does such a great job in their actions and they run a ton of screens. We felt those switches were necessary.''

In the 2013 WNIT game against Fordham, the Rams were effective in playing a physical game on Minato. In this contest, Maryland's big post players were not fouling Minato but limited her movement.

"They are quick laterally,'' Minato said. "It's hard to do any kind of move on them.''

"They decided to switch everything, and their big girls can move,'' said senior Jen Hazlett. "There's only so much you can do at that point.''

In hindsight, Minato wishes she was a bit more aggressive with penetration, which could have resulted in foul shots or given her more room to shoot once the Terps started respecting her drives.

"I guess if I was a little bit more aggressive, it wouldn't have gotten out of hand so quickly,'' Minato said.

Oertner said Minato should hardly blame herself.

"For her, she played great, though,'' Oertner said. "I mean, we can't ask much more of her.''